Corren
Charges To Title No 49 from PSA Media May 21, 2014
- Just seven days after making history by becoming the oldest player
ever to win a PSA World Tour title, 40-year-old Australian Mike Corren
charged through to a second successive title triumph when he edged out
Hong Kong's Tsz Fung Yip in the final of the NT Open, the PSA
Challenger 5 squash event at Alice Springs Squash Centre in Alice
Springs, Australia. After being taken the
full distance by unseeded New Zealander Chris van der Salm in the
second round, the heroic South Australian downed his next two opponents
in straight games to reach the 71st Tour final of his career. For the second time in
a week, Hong Kong's No.3 seed Tsz Fung Yip upset the event favourite
Jan Koukal in the semi-finals to set up a surprise final showdown with
Corren. And despite the
72-minute ordeal a few hours earlier, 20-year-old Yip battled with the
veteran Australian for almost an hour before Corren finally emerged
victorious 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 14-12. "Each tournament
experience throws up something different and at no point this week did
I think I could win this event," said Corren after his 59-minute
victory. "I couldn't practise during the week due to a barrage of
chaps knees, racquets and elbows from the weekend before! "I just tried to stick
to that old maxim 'if you keep getting up your opponent will tire of
hitting you'! "Yip was phenomenal
though, his match against Jan in the morning was brutal and to come up
like he did was quite staggering. I can't credit him enough as, whilst
he has all the skills and physical attributes today, he also showed a
massive amount of ticker!" Corren's latest win
brings his Tour title haul to 49 – equalling the career-long
achievement of Britain's former world number one Peter Nicol. RESULTS:
NT Open, Alice Springs, Australia 1st round: Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt
Tsz Hei Ma (HKG) 11-4, 11-3, 15-17, 11-6 JaeJin Yoo (KOR) bt
Hoi Long Chan (MAC) 11-1, 11-2, 11-7 [8] Ben Grindrod (NZL)
bt Lewis Doughty (ENG) 11-9, 11-8, 11-7 [7] Kwon Hyeon-Jun
(KOR) bt Velavan Senthilkumar (IND) 11-4, 11-9, 11-6 Mohd Syafiq Kamal
(MAS) bt Dion Bandeira (AUS) 11-3, 11-7, 11-2 Sehyun Lee (KOR) bt
Will John (WAL) 11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 11-3 [3] Tsz Fung Yip (HKG)
bt Kale Wilson (TRI) 11-3, 11-2, 11-8 [4] Cheuk Yan Tang
(HKG) bt Diego Gobbi (BRA) 11-5, 11-7, 11-8 Chi Him Wong (HKG) bt
Ronivaldo Duarte (BRA) 7-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-6 Darcy Evans (AUS) bt
[WC] Jason Garrard (AUS) 11-5, 11-5, 11-3 [5] Rhys Dowling (AUS)
bt Ben Takamizawa Harris (JPN) 11-5, 11-2, 11-7 Thomas Calvert (AUS)
bt [6] Steven Liu (MAC) 11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 12-10 Julian Tomlinson (ENG)
bt Guhan Senthilkumar (IND) 11-1, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7 Chris van der Salm
(NZL) bt Auguste Dussourd (FRA) w/o [2] Mike Corren (AUS)
bt Sindre Roaldsoy (NOR) 11-8, 11-6, 11-5 2nd round: [1] Jan Koukal (CZE)
bt Eain Yow Ng (MAS) 11-7, 11-4, 11-2 JaeJin Yoo (KOR) bt
[8] Ben Grindrod (NZL) 8-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-5 [7] Kwon Hyeon-Jun
(KOR) bt Mohd Syafiq Kamal (MAS) 13-11, 10-12, 1-11, 14-12, 11-6 [3] Tsz Fung Yip (HKG)
bt Sehyun Lee (KOR) 11-9, 12-10, 11-3 Chi Him Wong (HKG) bt
[4] Cheuk Yan Tang (HKG) 7-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6 [5] Rhys Dowling (AUS)
bt Darcy Evans (AUS) 11-9, 11-3, 10-12, 12-10 Julian Tomlinson (ENG)
bt Thomas Calvert (AUS) 4-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-13, 13-11 [2] Mike Corren (AUS)
bt Chris van der Salm (NZL) 13-11, 11-5, 7-11, 4-11, 11-6 Quarter-finals: [1] Jan Koukal (CZE)
bt JaeJin Yoo (KOR) 11-5, 11-8, 11-7 (31m) [3] Tsz Fung Yip (HKG)
bt [7] Kwon Hyeon-Jun (KOR) 11-1, 11-4, 11-3 (14m) Chi Him Wong (HKG) bt
[5] Rhys Dowling (AUS) 11-5, 11-5, 11-5 (29m) [2] Mike Corren (AUS)
bt Julian Tomlinson (ENG) 12-10, 11-4, 11-8 (33m) Semi-finals: [3] Tsz Fung Yip (HKG)
bt [1] Jan Koukal (CZE) 14-12, 6-11, 7-11, 14-12, 11-9 (72m) [2] Mike Corren (AUS)
bt Chi Him Wong (HKG) 11-6, 11-6, 11-6 (35m)
Final: [2] Mike Corren (AUS)
bt [3] Tsz Fung Yip (HKG) 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 14-12 (59m)
